Plankton
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Phytoplankton
Distribution of the common phytoplankton class Bacillariophyceae (left) and Dinophyceae (right) in the North Sea from 2000-2017. Followed by a time series over 17 years (lower left), and seasonal changes in the abundance over one year in 2010 (lower right).
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Distribution of the class Bacillariophyceae
Source: https://obis.org/
Distribution of the class Dinophyceae
Source: https://obis.org/
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Long-term trend of dominant phytoplankton classes
Source: https://obis.org/
Seasonal pattern of dominant phytoplankton classes in 2010
Source: https://obis.org/
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Zooplankton
Average amount of the common Copepods orders, Calanoida and Cyclopoida, that appears in the North Sea, from the years 2000-2017.
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Dominant Copepod Orders from 2000-2017
Source: Obis Copepod Sampling 1900-2020 https://obis.org/
Seasonal dynamics of dominant copepods in the year 2007
Source: Obis Copepod Sampling 1900-2020 https://obis.org/
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Fish larvae
The sampling of adults, eggs and larvae is important for monitoring. The sampling data can show trends of stock assessment and is the basement for predictions. In the end the information can be used as a guideline for fishery quotes. In the graphs below the time series show changes in eggs and larvae occurrence for Atlantic Herring, Atlantic mackerel and Atlantic horse mackerel. Can you see what has changed over the years?
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Long-term trend of herring larvae
Total number of herring larvae caught in the years 2000-2017. Source: https://data.ices.dk
Long-term trend of herring larvae
Annual effort of herring larvae caught in the years 2000-2017. Source: https://data.ices.dk
Long-term trend of herring eggs
Means of total counted Atlantic Herring eggs from 1972-2017. Source: https://data.ices.dk
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Size composition of herring larvae
Size abundance of Atlantic Herring larvae from 1972-2017
Long-term trend of dominant mackerel species
Atlantic mackerel and Atlantic horse mackerel eggs and larvae (1992 - 2022)
Benthos
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Zoobenthos
Distribution of the dominant zoobenthos taxonomic group in the Eastern North Sea from 2000-2021. There were no records of data over some months and years. The taxonomic group was selected randomly. Among the four taxonomic group, Vericorbula gibba is the most dominant group.
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Distribution of key groups during 2009-2021
Observed Zoobenthos Occurance on Eastern North Sea Over the Year (2009-2021).
Annual distribution of key groups
Comparison between the temporal pattern in Zoobenthos.
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Long-term pattern 2009-2021
Dominant Taxonomic_group of Zoobenthos.
Seasonal pattern averaged across years
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Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VME)
Occurrence of vulnerable marine ecosystem indicators in the North Sea. Records taken from 1970 - 2015. This visualisation does not account for potential overlap, but instead gives an idea of which areas in the North Sea may be important to protect, given that they are more sensitive to damage and degradation caused by human activity.
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Distribution of VME Indicators
Presence of vulnerable marine ecosystems in the North Sea
Fish
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Fish
The following figures are representative of various fish populations in the North Sea. In the first row, species diversity of bottom fishes in the North Sea from 1991-2017 are summarized using the Shannon Diversity Index, species richness, and Pielou’s Evenness Index. The next two rows of plots show the species abundance and sex ratio of threatened bottom fish species and their IUCN Red List category over time. Finally, the last plot shows the distribution and development of Cod in the ICES North Sea Areas from the 1960’s until 2017. In the ICES Areas are multiple Fish Cod Species, that tend to overlap in some Areas, which is displayed with different colors. Some Areas are home to the same Species throughout the years.
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Species Diversity of Bottom Fishes in the North Sea
Species diversity measured with Shannon Diversity Index (H). Sex determined by dissection. Source: ICES Bottom Trawl Survey Data (1966 - 2022)
Species Richness of Bottom Fishes in the North Sea
Sex determined by dissection. Source: ICES Bottom Trawl Survey Data (1966 - 2022)
Evenness of Bottom Fishes in the North Sea
Evenness measured with Pielou’s Evenness Index. Sex determined by dissection. Source: ICES Bottom Trawl Survey Data (1966 - 2022)
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Long-term trend of key species
ICES key fish species abundance and sex proportion from 1965 to 2022
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Long-term trend of threatened species
Current status and long-term trend for key species abundance
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Distribution and development of Cod species by ICES-Area of the North Sea from 1960s til 2017
Observed Zoobenthos Occurance on Eastern North Sea Over the Year (1960-2021).
Seabirds
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Seabirds
Spatial distribution for juveniles (year 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5) and immatures (I) seabirds in the North Sea from 1980 to 1995. We can see some differences in their distribution over the years. For some years we have missing information for some life stages.
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Spatial distribution of Larus Argentatus
Source: ICES Seabirds website
Spatial distribution of Fratercula arctica
Source: ICES Seabirds website
Environmental Conditions
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Temperature conditions
The figure shows interpolated temperature levels within the first 10 metres of the North Sea’s water column, recorded from the 1970ies until the year 2017. Remarkably, an overall trend of warming can be seen. Especially both major influx routes - the English Channel in the South and the Norwegian Current in the North - seem to have warmed up over the decades, likely having a major impact on the temperature of the North Sea.
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Sea Surface Temperature (SST) Map
North Sea Temperature at Seasurface (0-10m); data derived from NOAA’s 2018 World Ocean Atlas
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Nutrients and oxygen conditions
Sea contaminants monitoring program is sampling and evaluating water conditions in the North Sea and adjacent areas. The data sampling is an ongoing process due to which one is able to make out a time trend and possibly predict future conditions in the North Sea. Monitoring water conditions, especially nutrient distributions is higly important concerning ecosystem conservation, seeing as nutrient distribution is directly linked to both, growth and decrease of the abundance of micro- and macro organisms in certain areas of the North Sea.
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Nitrogen Distribution in the North Sea
ICES data of Nitrogen distribution in the North Sea from 2016-2021
Phosphorus Distribution in the North Sea
ICES data of Phosphorus distribution in the North Sea from 2016-2021
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Oxygen Saturation (%)
The spatial distribution of Oxygen Saturation(%) in the North Sea over the years of 2010-2021. The data displayed are the average for each year in different locations.The original data was recorded along the depth columns and here displays the mean abundance of Oxygen Saturation in each location.
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Oxygen Saturation Distribution Map
Oxygen Saturation (%) in the North Sea (2010-2021)- ICES Data portal
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Heavy metal contamination
The spatial distribution of Heavy metals (Zn,Pb,Hg) in the North Sea over the years of 2010-2021. The data displayed are the average values for each year in different locations.The original data was recorded along the depth columns and here displays the mean abundance of Oxygen Saturation in each location.
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Zn concentration
Zinc concentration (ug/l) of water in the North Sea (2010-2021)- ICES Data Portal
Pb concentration
Lead concentration (ug/l) of water in the North Sea (2010-2021) - ICES Data Portal
Hg concentration
Mercury concentration (ug/l) in water in the North Sea (2010-2021) - ICES Data Portal
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Underwater Noise
Frequency of noise pollutants in the North Sea over five years from 2015 to 2019. Airguns being the most dominant throughout.
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Frequency of noise pollutants
Source: https://www.ospar.org/